I’ve been really busy since the flight so I never got a chance to post my feedback in the now locked feedback posts but now I gotta chance and I guess I’ll say what I’ve been feeling since. Also I was playing on Xbox series X.
UI/menu/customization:
A little cluttered I feel like. It wasn’t bad and it could be a lot better but I did get lost a few times on the menu. I would forget how I go to a certain screen and end up looking for it for a little bit but I would end up finding it. I’m not too much of a fan of the battle pass but I also don’t really have anything bad to say about it. It doesn’t feel like halo too much but it works and that’s what matters. I didn’t care for the in game store much either. It’s exactly just another one of those stereotypical micro transaction stores you see in pretty much every shooter game nowadays. I feel like that blends halo into the market rather than differentiating it like halo would do back in the day. Then again it was just cosmetic stuff so no game altering content to purchase which is a good thing. Hopefully they’ll be exclusive cosmetics, content only unlockable through rank, campaign, achievements, etc. Customization seems to be the best since reach as well which is a huge yes (minus the armor coatings). All the armor variations are going to be so much fun to grind through while trying to come up with the most “stick out” combinations. My biggest complaint, and this is something I feel INCREDIBLY strong about as my addiction to halo has never been completely satisfied what so ever since then, was there was a way to see “rank help” in the playlists area (which simply told you how competitive ranks were gonna work) and it described the ranking systems you saw introduced in halo reach, and now currently in halo 5. The placement ranks csr system… bronze-onyx/champion. This… this right here is a HUGE no from me. I strongly feel like halo desperately needs to go back to a skill based ranking system inter grating 1-50 ranks along with a overall base rank. Halo simply hasn’t had the same satisfaction, reward, and upmost love for ranks since halo 3… MCC kind of brought it back but since the introduction of seasons, ranked hasn’t been getting any work thus making those addictive feelings go away again. Thousands of players (me included) literally put everything away in pursuit of a 50/general. The rank was that addicting, it made you actually want to get better because a blatantly shown rank next to your name. This feeling in halo is desperately needed again and the placements ranks in my opinion do not give that satisfaction once so ever. Especially after obtaining Onyx/champ the same day as placement, making people just put the game away for a month till the next reset. In terms of overall base rank, It’s way less impressive seeing people with max rank simply for just playing a lot, rather than having actually progressing to get better at the game and achieving rank with skill as well. I’m sure that today in 2021 compared to 2004-2007, there’s technology nowadays to prevent many exploits… I would think. This alone is keeping my expectations for longevity somewhat low.
Overall gameplay/bot and arena:
My expectations have always been low in all honestly but I gotta say, this is easily 343s best work! Very smooth gameplay! Most weapons feel they way you think they would. The sandbox has a very large skill gap similar to halo 3s. A lot of people argue about sprint and I when I first used sprint in infinite, my first thought was “if halo 3 had sprint… it would be like this!”… which is a very good thing! The gameplay was paced like halo 3 with a splash of halo 5 movement mechanics. I never liked the look of the weapons in reach but in certain instances, like the AR, it actually looked very fitting in the environment. I found myself enjoying the game a lot more than I thought I would. I don’t care for bots nor the weapon drills as no halos before had them, however I feel there are very necessary to the game. I’ll never touch them but many others will and that’s a very welcoming thing that halo does indeed need at the moment. Slayer arena was very balanced in my opinion and this surprised me. The game can get very competitive and I can only imagine how far the sandbox will be pushed by skilled players with time. The BR felt the best since halo 2 in my book! We also get the strongest AR I’ve ever used in halo but it works well in this sandbox. The Sidekick felt really good to use as well! Grenades were as powerful as ever (maybe too powerful?). Some weapons do need some tweaking (worst gravity hammer so far), but overall they all worked very well. I definitely need to get used to the new weapons (skewer gave me trouble at first like most people) but they were definitely a welcome addition to the halo sandbox. That skewer needs to nail bodies against the wall too, just saying! Ive always felt indifferent in joining matches in progress, due to possibly being put on a losing team with no chance of a comeback ,but if there’s a no loss stat counted in joined matches, thens it’s a welcome thing in halo. Except for the fact that sometimes when you join a match currently, the game sounds like your playing in a tunnel or something. Sounds just didn’t work properly on some of those joined matches. When I first played the map Bazaar, I was thrown off from the halo feel in all honesty. The map screamed call of duty and I was left wondering, what does the level and everything in it have to do with halo?? That’s just a nitpick of mine but I had to mention it as it was still a decent map. I thought I wouldn’t like the AI that you play with in every match, but over time, I ended up liking the AI much more than I anticipated. It’s pretty much the custom announcers you have in halo 5 but done a lot better. I hope to see more use for the AI in release or in next flights as well. The use of equipment is limited, similar to halo 3s equipment and to me, it works very well in this halo sandbox! The opening pre game start screens featuring your team “showboating” I guess, was cringy and funny to me. Once again a nitpick of mine but I wanted to mention it.
Overall I do think that out of all of 343s work, in terms on main series games, this is definitely looking like their best work. There’s obviously still work to be done and I’m hoping to see certain areas change for the better (the ranking system for the love of chief!), but for the most part, infinite is shaping to be a very good halo game!